Introduction: Now a days our Eastern countries also going to develop but in the past, especially
in the sub-continent of Indo-Pak women have lived their whole lives waiting on others. When they were young, they waited on
their parents. After marriage, they waited on their husbands. When they become old, they waited on their children. Even now,
not only in eastern countries but in some developed countries, too, good and faithful women are still waiting in many ways,
for example, as wife, they are waiting their husband, and as mother they are waiting their children at home when they are
at schools or in office. No doubt we are living in 21st century, but today, we must live waiting on our Master,
the Almighty God who is the absolute authority and power in our lives.
1.
We must wait for the will of God and for His timing in our lives. Bible tells
us that Joseph waited 13 years as a slave and was in prison until his dream was fulfilled. At the age of 17, he was sold into
slavery but became a Prime minister in Egypt at the age of 30, he waited 13 years. Although waiting
is truly a difficult thing to do, but as a good and faithful Christians we must learn to wait for God’s will and His
timing. Moses waited for 40 years in Midian. At the age of 40, he killed an Egyptian who was tormenting an Israelite. At the
age of 80, God commanded him to go into Egypt,
and he was able to free the Israelites from many years of slavery.
Believing in God means patiently waiting for
His will and timing in our lives. It is written in Psalm 123: 1-2, “I lift up my eyes to you, to you whose throne is
in heaven. As the eyes of slave look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid look to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the LORD our God, till he shows us his mercy.”
Believing in and serving
God means waiting for the time, He decides is the right time for us. When people run ahead of God because they are impatient
instead of waiting on Him, this always leads to failure. From God’s viewpoint, waiting is a very necessary process in
our lives; it is a step that every Christian must take in all things.
2. The
Bible clearly shows that some have lost a blessing because they would not wait for God’s answer and timing. When Moses went to receive the commandments of God, Aaron and the Israelites could not wait for Moses to return and
God greatly punished them. It is written in Exodus 32:15-19. “Moses turned and went down the mountain with the two tablets
of the Testimony in his hands. They were inscribed on both sides, front and back. The tablets were the work of God; the writing
was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets. When Joshua heard the noise of the people shouting, he said to Moses, “There
is the sound of war in the camp.’ Moses replied: ‘It is not the sound of victory, it is not the sound of defeat;
it is the sound of singing that I hear.’ When Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, his anger
burned and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces at the foot of the mountain.”
While Moses was up on Mt. Sinai praying and fasting for 40 days and
nights, the people grew impatient and couldn’t wait for Moses to return. They didn’t know that had happened to
him. So, they decided to make a golden calf and worship it. They couldn’t wait. As a result, God commanded Moses and
Moses commanded the Levites to massacre the 3,000 idolaters. Because of not waiting, they lost their lives.
An other example is there that Saul did not wait
for Samuel when he faced his enemy; God abandoned Saul. The Philistines came to attack Israel. The enemy brought 30,000 soldiers on foot, and 6,000 soldiers on horses.
Israel merely had a small army of 2,000.
However, Samuel was assured that if he gave a sacrifice to God and asked for His help, the battle would go well. But Samuel
did not come for many days, and Saul became anxious. They needed to have Samuel come and offer a sacrifice to God. They waited
for seven days with no news of him. The people began to flee, and only 600 soldiers were left. Feeling a crisis upon his hands,
Saul decided, he could wait no longer. He dared to do what only high priest could do; he offered a sacrifice to God, which
was simply not allowed. He gave the offering of burnt sacrifice, which only Samuel was allowed to give. When Samuel finally
arrived after seven days and discovered what Saul had done, he was very angry. Samuel was high priest. Saul not waited and
did what he was not allowed to do (1 Samuel 13:11-14). Saul should have waited, even though he was facing a great crisis and
hardship. But Saul did not wait; he did something he should not have done. As a result, God abandoned Saul. Like Saul, some
time we also not waiting God’s plan and answer and doing against the will of God.
Waiting can be extremely difficult, but as good
Christian, we must learn to wait. Jesus Christ said in Luke 18:1 that we need to pray constantly and not give up. Because
waiting can be so difficult, many Christians pray only for a little while and they give up. But Jesus told us that God who
loves us would listen to us, if we call out to him day and night and wait for His help. So, when we pray, we must have great
patience as we wait upon God. Many people give up before they receive God’s
answer. We must be sure in heaven we will find a huge storehouse of God’s answers to prayer.
3. God’s
grace has already provided some things for us now and it is not necessary to wait for them. Paul wrote
(2 Corinthians 6:1-2) “As God’s fellow workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. For he says,
‘In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.’ I tell you, now the time of God’s
favor, now is the day of salvation.” So, always remember that the grace of redemption from sin that Christ made possible
for us through His blood on the Cross is available to us now. We do not need to wait for it. The time for redemption is now.
We can be saved now. There is no need to wait 10, 20 or 30 years to be saved? No! My friend now is the time for salvation.
Now is the time to be made righteous. It is written in Romans 3:23-24, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory
of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” So, my brothers and
sisters, if we repent truly and accept Christ as Savior, we are saved at that moment. Unlike other blessings from God, there
is no waiting period for redemption. We can be filled with the Holy Spirit now; there is no need to wait. It is written in
Acts 2:38-39, “Peter replied, ‘Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness
of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are
far off – for all whom the LORD our God will call.” To those who call on the name of Jesus Christ and are saved,
God promises to send the Holy Spirit. There is no need to wait to receive the Holy Spirit. Knowing the truth and seeking the
Holy Spirit will result in God allowing the Holy Spirit to come to us.
For the healing
of our sicknesses, we need not wait, it is written in the bible that a man waited at the waters of Bethesda for 38 years, but when Christ came, the sick man did not need to wait any longer;
he was healed at that moment. Christ took all of our infirmities on the Cross. We can be healed from sin and sickness now.
There is no waiting period. At this moment, we can call out to Jesus and received the grace of healing. In Galatians 3:13-14,
Paul says “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: ‘Cursed
is everyone who is hung on a tree.’ He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles
through Christ Jesus. So that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.” We must want to be free now, and
receive the blessing of Abraham. We must want free ourselves from the curse and receive Abraham’s blessing. We can receive
these blessings now and not have to wait for them. It is written in 2 Corinthians 5:8, “We are confident, I say, and
would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.”
Dear brothers and sisters as soon as we come
to Christ, we can enter in heaven. Christ died and was resurrected so that we also can receive new life. Christ died and was
resurrected in our place; we also have gone through the process ourselves. Heaven is open to those who come and believe in
the redemption of Jesus Christ. According to Matthew 7:7-11, Jesus said “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you
will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks,
the door will be opened.” We do not need to wait for the redemption of our sins that Christ has already made possible.
Ask for it now; claim it now. Knock on God’s door now. Pray and have firm faith now. When we do so, we can possess it.
The blessing of redemption was made available more than 2,000 years age. So, we do not need to wait for redemption.
4. What exactly must we wait for?
It is written in Jeremiah 33:2-3, “This is what the Lord says, he who made the earth, the
Lord who formed it and established it, the Lord is his name: ‘call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and
unsearchable things you do not know.”So, it is Almighty God who plans and carries
our various works. God is the master; we are not. We are merely servants and workers who must wait on God. Servants or workers
do not start working until they know what their master wants them to do. Once they know, then they can start working. God
is our absolute authority. Only when God gives the commands we can start doing anything at all. Only when we know God’s
will we can start working. Just as slaves and servants wait for their masters to command them, in order to know God’s
will we must wait until He reveals His plan to us. If we start without knowing God’s will, we will surely fail. King
David says in Psalm 127:1-2, “Unless the Lord builds the house, its builder’s labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches
over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat—for
he grants sleep to those he loves.” Giving sleep means giving peace of heart. When we turn the work over to God and
wait patiently for His will, God will reveal it at the right time. When we follow according to His will, the power of God
works in us. Then we can succeed because we are following His plan, not ours.
Christ has the power to close or open the doors
to our future. We simply must learn to wait for God’s will. In all things, we must learn to wait for the will of God.
We must seek it and wait. David says in Psalm 40:1, “I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry.” And in Psalm 130:5 he mentioned “I wait for the Lord, my soul waits and in his
word I put my hope.” So, until the Word of God comes into our hearts, until God begins to lead and guide us, we must
wait for Him, and let Him work in us during the waiting process. We must wait for God’s will in all things, big and
small.
Connotation:
Dear brothers and sisters, you know
that waiting is difficult and frustrating at times. However, we must remember that we are not in charge of our lives; rather
God is in charge of our lives. We are just tools or servants who serve God. As servants, we must obey God’s will and
do exactly what He tells us to do. God our master loves us greatly; He is a good and Almighty God. He blesses those who wait.
To those who wait on Him, God reveals His greatest secrets and brings about the greatest results, and we are made well in
all things even as our spirits are made well. Christ died on the Cross, His body was
torn, and He bled for us in order to bring about salvation and the gospel of blessing. We need not wait to receive redemption.
However, for other things we must pray and wait patiently upon God for His direction and answers. He wants to nurture (to
feed and look after) us during our waiting process. In His timing, not ours, God will reveal His will and great secrets to
us so our lives can be fruitful and blessed.
Written by: Rev. Emanuel
Khokhar
Candidate: Ph D in Missiology
Delievered at IBF, Shinil
Presbyterian Church
June 12, 2005
